Gelcoat chips
 

Curious what the thought processes are on fixing chips in the gelcoat. Immediate issue? End of season? Above/below the waterline.....

Thanks

Depends on what color the gelcoat is. I have a 20' RED 1986 runabout. I noticed a chip in the vertical "transition"... (on the edge) from the transom to the side of the boat. Outside Corners are particularly sensitive to chipping.

I found a small bottle of paint at a local Hobby Shop that matched the hull color and "filled it in" ..in layers...drying in between layers... with the paint using an artists brush. The colors available at the Hobby Shop are almost infinite. It's a "mask" on the edge and not so noticeable. . Amateurs will NOT get it right trying to match gelcoat colors with a gelcoat repair kit....Just the way it is..:look: NB

EDIT: The paint I used was Badger Precice Design Model Flex...Water Based Acrylic

Above the water line, there really isn't a concern... Fix it when you can unless there is an issue, like it is getting bigger....

Below the water line well, there are variables here..

is the boat kept in the water is the biggest one....

If it is well, the problem might get worse, and you could end up with blistering, which can lead to even more problems as I found out, and becomes a expensive fix...

If the boat is kept in the water, for how long is it in the water, a few weeks, no big deal... 6 months well then that is another story....

If it's down to the glass matting, fix it.

What LI said. A quick & EZ cosmetic fix, above the waterline, is woman's nail polish & clearcoat, from the same manufacturer, works nicely.;)

A company called
 

Spectrum Color http://www.spectrumcolor.com, has color matched gel coat repair kits for many manufacturers. Depending on the amount of repair work necessary, they have a small 2oz gel coat paste repair kit for about $27. I did this on my SeaRay 280 Sundancer a few years ago and the color match was terrific. Relatively easy to do (once you get past taking sand paper to your gel coat ) :).

I have no connection to Spectrum, just have used the product and it performed great and still looks great.

Slightly below the waterline ;-)

I'm curious how far 2oz will go? It doesn't sound like much to be filling in cracks. Are we talking spider webbing type imperfections or someone dropped a ski and put a small chip/crack in the edge?

Thanks

Peter